by Rab Bruce’s Spider

so that’s another Tory Prime Minister gone, or at least going. This has resulted in many people calling for a General Election and, while that is understandable, it’s almost certainly not going to happen. Quite apart from the fact that the Tories can’t afford to hold a GE now because they’d certainly lose, the UK system is that voters elect a Party to govern, and each political Party chooses its own leader. Nicola Sturgeon, in particular, seems to have forgotten that she was elected as First Minister without being elected by the public. In fairness, the Scottish system is slightly different to the UK one in that she had to be elected as leader by her Party, then as First Minister by the Parliament, but since the SNP had a majority, that wasn’t much of an issue for her. But let’s not forget that Gordon Brown and Theresa May were also elected as Prime Ministers by their Party, not through a General Election. Every time this happens, opposition Parties demand a General Election and the governing Party refuses because that’s not how the UK system operates. And, in fairness, the current farce is not caused so much by this system as by the chaos within the Tory Party.

But would it make much difference in any case? Even if there was a General Election and Labour were to win, the UK would still be governed by a Pro-Brexit Party which is vehemently opposed to Scottish independence, and determined not to undo the various right wing policies the Tories have introduced. They might re-impose a ban on fracking, but don’t expect them to do much about the energy crisis, the cost of living crisis or very much else. Sir Keir (Knight of the Realm) Starmer is probably the most right wing leader Labour have ever had, and he only looks moderate in comparison to the fanatics who run the Tory Party.

So I can’t get too excited about Liz Truss resigning. Whoever the Tories inflict on us next probably won’t be any better. They will continue to treat the people of the UK as expendable and exploitable.

As has been the case for many years now, Scotland’s only hope of improving things lies with becoming a normal, self-governing country.